


Two Weeks' Holiday

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 01:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13513893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Simon forces Jim to take a break





	Two Weeks' Holiday

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'track'

Two Weeks' Holiday

by Bluewolf

 

As he left the bullpen on Friday evening, Jim wasn't sure whether to feel unhappy at being forced to take two weeks holiday or ever so slightly pleased. As a sentinel, impelled by his every instinct to protect his tribe, being forced to... well, his mind said 'neglect' his duty to that tribe for two weeks made him unhappy. On the other hand, he seldom took the time off that he was due, and, he had to admit, he was tired. Three or four long weekends didn't give him a proper break - and he needed one. Being forced to take it was, in its own way, very welcome.

As he drove home he wondered just what he should do with those two weeks.

A lot would depend on his guide. On what Blair wanted to do.

Rainier's summer break had begun that day; Blair was free for the next month. After that he was expected to lecture at one of the short summer courses Rainier ran every year - courses where students could improve their grades - and Blair had already said that any student attending one of them was keen enough to really pay attention. Jim grinned slightly, knowing how much Blair would appreciate a keen class, even if it was only for three weeks.

Everyone at 852 Prospect had their usual parking spot and Jim noted with some surprise that someone was in 'his' space - though he didn't recognize the car. He carefully parked two spaces down, leaving the one between the strange car and his truck empty, knowing that Harry Barnes, who usually parked in it, would appreciate the courtesy, and went into the building.

When he entered the loft, it was to find Blair so deep in contemplation of something on his laptop that he failed to register the door opening.

"What's so interesting, Chief?"

Blair jumped. "Jim!" He pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen across one eye. "Simon phoned - told me you'd two weeks off."

Jim nodded. "He told me I damned well had to take a break... and I have to admit I could do with one. I've been trying to decide what to suggest we do with them."

"Well, as to that... " Blair gestured towards his laptop. "When we have a long weekend, we often go camping, fishing... and we have our favorite site in the Cascades for that. But when Simon said two weeks - well, I thought I'd look for somewhere different."

"So have you found anywhere?"

"I was thinking Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. I was looking at the Turlo campsite there, and it seems reasonable - not too big but as many amenities as we're likely to need. There's fishing in the area and a lot of good hiking - there are tracks all over, some easy, some more demanding; or we could find somewhere quiet among the trees a mile or so from the camp and just relax. Peace, quiet, fresh air... "

"It does sound good," Jim admitted.

"And this is early enough in the season that we shouldn't have any difficulty getting a site," Blair went on. "Want me to phone them and book us in from tomorrow, twelvish, till... oh, Friday of next week? That would give us the last weekend of your leave to go grocery shopping, do some laundry... "

"And generally recover from our holiday," Jim said.

Blair chuckled, and reached for the phone. "Go and get our camping gear from the basement," he said. "If we get it all ready tonight, we can get an early start tomorrow, and it won't take us that long to get there."

Jim grinned. "Have to admit it'll be nice to go somewhere new," he said. "Funny how we usually seem to go further afield even for a weekend."

"That's what people do," Blair commented. "Places that are relatively close - they have it in the back of their minds to go there one day, but for a holiday, even a long weekend, it seems more... well, more of a vacation to go further afield." He was punching in numbers as he spoke. "Yes, hello... "

Jim turned to go down to the basement, even though he was wanting dinner. If everything they needed was in the loft, they could eat and then relax, maybe have an early night ready for a reasonably early start in the morning. And he realized just how grateful he was to Blair for diving in and making the decisions for their break. Left to himself, he realized, he might just have stayed at home rather than go to the bother of deciding where to go.

Yes, Jim knew he had a dominant personality... but even the most dominant person sometimes liked to have someone else make the decisions, and who better to make them than his guide?


End file.
